K3 inks, and glossy overcoat, in a 2200 for B&W

[Helen B]

I've mentioned this on a few forums, and I get a lot of email about it, so I thought that someone might be interested in a full description of a system I began to develop about eighteen months ago. I'm sure that I'm not alone, so I make no claims about this being 'my system', other than for ease of reference.

This system converts an Epson 2200 into a B&W-only printer that uses Epson K3 inks and can print on glossy and matte papers without having to change cartridges. It is suitable, therefore, for use with a continuous inks supply (CIS). It can also be used to overcoat glossy prints, in my case with Krystal Topkote. Colour prints on glossy paper made with UC (2200 etc) inks are improved by coating with KT. The system could be used with other printers in the 4000 series.

I use an Inkrepublic i-Ink CIS. I've used Niagara and Flux systems, but that has proven to be the best so far. My initial experiments were carried out with refillable cartridges.

The printer is controlled by OPM (Open Print Manager), and the profiles are made with IJC (Ink Jet Control), known together as IJC/OPM, from Bowhaus. Quadtone RIP (QTR) is similar, cheaper, but has a more numeric, less graphical interface. $250 vs $50.

I originally used a Macbeth TR924 densitometer for making the profiles. Now I use an Eye-One. I used a PrintFix Pro for a while, and it was OK though I found that its idea of neutral wasn't always the same as mine or of other instruments, so I decided to go the whole hog and switch to Profilemaker with the Eye-One. I'm pleased that I got that, but the TR924 did the job very well, albeit more slowly. You don't need the Profilemaker software for IJC/OPM profiles, but the Eye-One can input directly to IJC, at least with the Windows version. That is very convenient, and if you have an Eye-One (not the monitor thing) it makes IJC very attractive. The Eye-One is a very versatile instrument, and it has other uses especially when used with the full version of the Profilemaker Measure Tool or Dead Link Removed or BabelColor. That could be the subject of another note.

The inks are taken from the 110 ml or 220 ml cartidges for the 4800 series. I get mine from Atlex. These are bags in boxes, and easy to empty completely. Just prise the box open, lift out the bag, clip the corner off and pour into a bottle.

Cartridges for the 2400 do not fit the 2200.

The matte black for the original Ultrachrome series (2200, 4000 etc) is the same as the matte black for the K3 series (2400, 4800 etc).

Here are the inks I use:

1) Matte black (MK)
2) Photo black (PK)
3) Light black (LK)
4) Light light black (LLK)
5) Light cyan (LC)
6) Krystal Topkote (KT)
7) Blue from an R800 diluted 1+4 with MIS base. (LB)

The arrangement of inks 6 and 7 is historical. If I was starting from scratch the KT would be in position 7.

I did a lot of experimentation to begin with, mostly to find which colour inks to use. I tried light cyan and light magenta in the K3 set, and red and blue from the R800. The combination of light cyan, red and blue gave the widest range of pleasing tones. I made profiles for a range of papers with each ink set I tested because I don't think that you can really judge an ink set without making a reasonably finished profile. Rather a lot of work.

Because I'm not a huge fan of warmer tones, though some of my clients are, I dropped the red ink in favour of Krystal Topkote. I had been testing a range of coating materials, methods and systems (a subject in itself) and liked the KT. It is applied after the image has been printed, using the standard Epson driver. On glossy prints it increases D-max and the separation of tones close to D-max. I doesn't have a really deep gloss finish. My tests of simultaneous printing of the image and the coat showed that it was much preferable to apply the coat later. There seems to be no need to wait between printing the image and coating, but the print must be kept clean before coating and for a couple of minutes after coating (ie don't let the coated print fall out of the printer onto a moulting cat). Glossy prints coated with KT can be used as postcards. Innova F-Type Gloss (also sold under other names, such as DaVinci) and Crane Museo Rag both work well for this application.

After a few weeks I became annoyed by the slight dottiness of the blue ink in the cooler profiles I was making, so I switched to diluted blue. It looks much better. Unfortunately I decided to do that after I had set up the CIS, so I had to flush out one channel of the CIS.

I'm sure that you could use K3 light magenta just as well as the light blue.

The three black inks on their own produce warm images that some people like - I prefer something just a little on the warm side of neutral, like Agfa Record Rapid, which was my all-time favourite real photo paper.

If you have a 2200 that has irrecoverably dead nozzles you could miss out some inks, depending on your requirements.

That's enough for the moment. I'll fill in the gaps as questions are asked, if there are any! I'd be happy to expand on the capabilities and use of IJC/OPM, which I have used with Epson, Sundance Septone, MIS and Cone inks and I'm now using for experiments with diluted red dye inks to create digital negs with a 2200.

Best,
Helen

 

[donbga]

I've mentioned this on a few forums, and I get a lot of email about it, so I thought that someone might be interested in a full description of a system I began to develop about eighteen months ago. I'm sure that I'm not alone, so I make no claims about this being 'my system', other than for ease of reference.

This system converts an Epson 2200 into a B&W-only printer that uses Epson K3 inks and can print on glossy and matte papers without having to change cartridges. It is suitable, therefore, for use with a continuous inks supply (CIS). It can also be used to overcoat glossy prints, in my case with Krystal Topkote. Colour prints on glossy paper made with UC (2200 etc) inks are improved by coating with KT. The system could be used with other printers in the 4000 series.

I use an Inkrepublic i-Ink CIS. I've used Niagara and Flux systems, but that has proven to be the best so far. My initial experiments were carried out with refillable cartridges.

The printer is controlled by OPM (Open Print Manager), and the profiles are made with IJC (Ink Jet Control), known together as IJC/OPM, from Bowhaus. Quadtone RIP (QTR) is similar, cheaper, but has a more numeric, less graphical interface. $250 vs $50.

I originally used a Macbeth TR924 densitometer for making the profiles. Now I use an Eye-One. I used a PrintFix Pro for a while, and it was OK though I found that its idea of neutral wasn't always the same as mine or of other instruments, so I decided to go the whole hog and switch to Profilemaker with the Eye-One. I'm pleased that I got that, but the TR924 did the job very well, albeit more slowly. You don't need the Profilemaker software for IJC/OPM profiles, but the Eye-One can input directly to IJC, at least with the Windows version. That is very convenient, and if you have an Eye-One (not the monitor thing) it makes IJC very attractive. The Eye-One is a very versatile instrument, and it has other uses especially when used with the full version of the Profilemaker Measure Tool or Dead Link Removed or BabelColor. That could be the subject of another note.

The inks are taken from the 110 ml or 220 ml cartidges for the 4800 series. I get mine from Atlex. These are bags in boxes, and easy to empty completely. Just prise the box open, lift out the bag, clip the corner off and pour into a bottle.

Cartridges for the 2400 do not fit the 2200.

The matte black for the original Ultrachrome series (2200, 4000 etc) is the same as the matte black for the K3 series (2400, 4800 etc).

Here are the inks I use:

1) Matte black (MK)
2) Photo black (PK)
3) Light black (LK)
4) Light light black (LLK)
5) Light cyan (LC)
6) Krystal Topkote (KT)
7) Blue from an R800 diluted 1+4 with MIS base. (LB)

The arrangement of inks 6 and 7 is historical. If I was starting from scratch the KT would be in position 7.

I did a lot of experimentation to begin with, mostly to find which colour inks to use. I tried light cyan and light magenta in the K3 set, and red and blue from the R800. The combination of light cyan, red and blue gave the widest range of pleasing tones. I made profiles for a range of papers with each ink set I tested because I don't think that you can really judge an ink set without making a reasonably finished profile. Rather a lot of work.

Because I'm not a huge fan of warmer tones, though some of my clients are, I dropped the red ink in favour of Krystal Topkote. I had been testing a range of coating materials, methods and systems (a subject in itself) and liked the KT. It is applied after the image has been printed, using the standard Epson driver. On glossy prints it increases D-max and the separation of tones close to D-max. I doesn't have a really deep gloss finish. My tests of simultaneous printing of the image and the coat showed that it was much preferable to apply the coat later. There seems to be no need to wait between printing the image and coating, but the print must be kept clean before coating and for a couple of minutes after coating (ie don't let the coated print fall out of the printer onto a moulting cat). Glossy prints coated with KT can be used as postcards. Innova F-Type Gloss (also sold under other names, such as DaVinci) and Crane Museo Rag both work well for this application.

After a few weeks I became annoyed by the slight dottiness of the blue ink in the cooler profiles I was making, so I switched to diluted blue. It looks much better. Unfortunately I decided to do that after I had set up the CIS, so I had to flush out one channel of the CIS.

I'm sure that you could use K3 light magenta just as well as the light blue.

The three black inks on their own produce warm images that some people like - I prefer something just a little on the warm side of neutral, like Agfa Record Rapid, which was my all-time favourite real photo paper.

If you have a 2200 that has irrecoverably dead nozzles you could miss out some inks, depending on your requirements.

That's enough for the moment. I'll fill in the gaps as questions are asked, if there are any! I'd be happy to expand on the capabilities and use of IJC/OPM, which I have used with Epson, Sundance Septone, MIS and Cone inks and I'm now using for experiments with diluted red dye inks to create digital negs with a 2200.

Best,
Helen

Helen,

Thank you very much for the write up about your inkjet configuration. I've followed your postings on other sites and I'm glad you took the time to post this here.

Excluding the cost of the printer, how much would it cost (approximately) to use the other tools (software and hardware) you've listed?

TIA,

Don Bryant

 

[Greg_E]

i1 Pro spectro is around $900, Profilemaker Pro (depending on version) is around $2000, and I don't remember what the bundle price for both is. CIS is probably around $150 to $200 range (dry, no ink). IJC/OPM as mentioned is $250, QTR is $50, you need one or the other. As Helen mentioned, I think the IJC/OPM is far more intuitive, but many people don't like to spend that kind of money, especially not for a small printer like the 2200.

I run an Ink Republic CIS on my cx6600 at work, this thing has churned out more pages than I can really remember, it's been the best CIS I have had to date, and like Helen I've had a few of them.

 

[Helen B]

Other prices:

Reflection densitometer, as an alternative to a spectro or abridged spectro: anything from $50 to $250 on eBay. The accuracy of an uncalibrated ancient machine may be questionable, but the precision should be OK for the purposes of linearising a QTR or IJC profile. You can linearise profiles quite accurately by eye if you print the right target - I'll describe a method later. Had I not also wanted to do colour profiling, I would have been completely happy with a Macbeth TR924.

The PrintFix Pro abridged spectro is $500 with the colour profiling software, at least $100 less on eBay. It writes Lab data into an xml file, which is easy to read into Excel if you want to use it for other purposes. I think that there are a few more software tools bundled with it now, but I just wrote a little spreadsheet to read the xml file then convert from L* to density. If anyone wants that I could post it here, I think.

I used $5.50 MIS refillable cartridges for some of my early experiments, but I now use 'EZ-Fill' FLX122 spongeless ones from Inkvillage at $13 each. These have proved to be trouble-free, easy to use and reliable. It is possible to flush them out for re-use with other ink.

The K3 ink is $50 for 110 mL and $82.50 for 220 mL cartridges from Atlex. A standard 2200 cartridge holds about 12 mL, and it may not be empty when you throw it away.

I've just noticed an error in my original post. I refer to Crane Museo Rag as being suitable for postcards. I meant Crane Museo Silver Rag. Must have been a Freudian slip, because I don't like the 'Silver' in the name. C'est trop pretentious pour moi.

Best,
Helen

 

[jd callow]

Helen this sounds like a really intense project.

 

[wiz]

Other prices:
I used $5.50 MIS refillable cartridges for some of my early experiments, but I now use 'EZ-Fill' FLX122 spongeless ones from Inkvillage at $13 each. These have proved to be trouble-free, easy to use and reliable. It is possible to flush them out for re-use with other ink.

Helen, thanks, I'll give them a try.

Two questions, if you don't mind. What do you use as a flushing agent? And after you flush them out, how do you dry them out so that whatever you used as a flushing agent doesn't dilute the new load?

 

[Helen B]

Hi,

I use MIS base to clean cartridges and CIS's. ESC-BASE-PT-UC, down at the bottom of the page.

I don't usually bother about the tiny amount of base left when I empty out the spongeless cartridge.

Best,
Helen

 

[catem]

Very comprehensive, thanks - not using my epson 2100 too much at the moment but am interested about use of K3 inks/CIS with it - assuming the 2100 is exactly the same as the US epson 2200.

I'm interested whether the R2400 still has any advantages over this set-up...

 

[Helen B]

Cate,

If the R2400 was used without modification, but with QTR or IJC/OPM it would have the big advantage that you could print colour and B&W without changing inks. You can, of course, do that with an R2400 as supplied by Epson, but QTR and IJC/OPM give you the advantage over Epson ABW of being in complete control of which inks are used. You don't have to use a CIS or refillable cartridges either.

The advantages of the modified 2100/2200 are that you can also print a top coat like Krystal Topkote, and you needn't swap inks between printing on matte and glossy.

Best,
Helen

 

[catem]

Thanks Helen.

The other thing I wonder is - the later printers are supposed to give better separation in highlights/shadows than the 2100/2200. Do you know if this is simply down to using more blacks than with the original ultrachrome set-up, or is it connected to the printer itself being more sophisticated aswell? In other words, can you achieve the same results with your set-up? I'd be very interested in your view of how much better the results are than when you used your 2200 with the original ultrachrome inks...Obviously you also get the benefit of the greater longevity of the K3 inks (supposedly) which is good.

Hope I'm not diverting this with questions....

I've considered 'upgrading' my printer but generally hate to do that, and would much rather adapt.

 

[Helen B]

Cate,

I have never put as much effort into getting good B&W prints with a standard 2200 ink set as I have with dedicated B&W ink sets, so I can't make a truly valid comparison. I have tried the profiles that are bundled with IJC/OPM on my colour 2200 that had the normal Epson inks, and there is a difference in the 'dottiness' in the highlights. I definitely prefer the results with three black inks to those with two.

I used to use IJC/OPM with the 2200 that has the B&W K3 ink set with other B&W ink sets, mainly the Septone set, which has one black and three lighter blacks in neutral and warm - similar to Piezotone, which I also used. These could be thought of as 'K4' systems, and I was hesitant to switch to the K3 system because of the loss of one light black. In practice it hasn't produced unacceptable dottiness as far as I'm concerned - others may disagree.

The K3 printers are an improvement on the earlier UC printers in terms of fineness of ink dots etc.

As far as separation in the highlights and shadows goes, I'm not so sure how much this has to do with the printer and how much to do with the care with which the profile is made (does that make sense?). The granularity of the highlights will have some effect though. I'll write a little addendum on testing profiles soon.

Maybe I should send you a sample - I've just had some spare time and printed off some samples at last. PM me with your address if you want one.

Best,
Helen

 

[catem]

Thanks Helen! PM sent.

 

[wiz]

I use MIS base to clean cartridges and CIS's. ESC-BASE-PT-UC, down at the bottom of the page.

I don't usually bother about the tiny amount of base left when I empty out the spongeless cartridge.

Thank you greatly.

 

[Ben Altman]

I used $5.50 MIS refillable cartridges for some of my early experiments, but I now use 'EZ-Fill' FLX122 spongeless ones from Inkvillage at $13 each. These have proved to be trouble-free, easy to use and reliable. It is possible to flush them out for re-use with other ink.

Helen

Hi Helen,

I've been trying the inkvillage cartridges with K3 ink, LK or LLK in each position on my 2200 - but can't get proper ink flow (bad and inconsistent nozzle checks). Printer works fine with UC cartridges. Any tricks to getting them to work?

Thanks!

Ben

 

[Helen B]

Hi Ben,

Very sorry to hear that you are having difficulties. I'm puzzled - I've found the Inkvillage cartridges to be trouble-free with K3 ink in the two 2200 printers that I've tried them in. Have you done the usual things like letting it sit for a couple of hours after three cleaning cycles? If I accidentally let a cartridge run dry that's all it usually takes.

Best,
Helen

 

[Ben Altman]

Thanks Helen,

I've tried a variety of things without much luck. I've ordered some syringes and adapters from MIS to see if I can prime them from the bottom - I'm assuming I'm getting some sort of airlock. Will report back.

Ben